Help please, just got the caps off the forks and the bike has progressive springs but something is not right.Do they normally come with a secondary spring inside?I am sure these springs should stick out further no pressure at all to compress them?

I cannot say for sure, as I have a GL1800, but that is the same length as the Progressives in my front end. They were compressable by hand, but it was a firm push to get the caps to start threading. Hopefully a GL1500 owner with Progressives will chime in to confirm for you.

When I put Progressives in on my GL1500, they stuck up more than that when they were installed - probably about four inches in total. There was absolutely no way you were going to screw that cap back on by hand. There was, however, definitely no second spring inside the main spring.

WingAdmin wrote:There was absolutely no way you were going to screw that cap back on by hand.

That's what I thought I can push these in with one hand and screw the cap on. Should there be a spacer in with them?

themainviking wrote:I cannot say for sure, as I have a GL1800, but that is the same length as the Progressives in my front end. They were compressable by hand, but it was a firm push to get the caps to start threading.

Hi Viking I have read somewhere progressive springs for the 1500 and 1800 are the same length do yours stick out more than mine?

WingAdmin wrote:There was absolutely no way you were going to screw that cap back on by hand.

That's what I thought I can push these in with one hand and screw the cap on. Should there be a spacer in with them?

There was no spacer with mine - just the springs. I used the Honda fork tool to compress them and get the cap screwed on - there was a tremendous amount of force when the cap was far enough on to start engaging the threads. Some people have made their own tools to do the job out of wood pieces and threaded rod.

keith3po wrote:Hi Viking I have read somewhere progressive springs for the 1500 and 1800 are the same length do yours stick out more than mine?

Yeah, mine did stick out further than yours, if I remember correctly. It is a couple of years so I am not positive. My forks were fully extended though, as I did the job with the front end still on the bike and the wheel still on. The bike was brand new so I did not feel the need to change out the fork oil. There was a blurb in the instructions for adjusting preload, but the instructions said the springs should be at least even with the top of the fork tube or a bit higher, with the forks completely extended. I had a good two or three inches, and putting the fork caps on was a push, so I did not worry about the preload stuff. The instructions also said to reuse the stock spacers, so I must be incorrect as to the length of my springs. They must have been long enough with the spacers used, as the stock springs are no more than 2/3s the length of your springs. I would suggest that your springs just may be correct for your bike. Are your forks fully extended in the picture you posted?

Keith, I was having front end issues and had progressive springs which at the time may or may not have been a problem. I called progressive and talked to their tech guys....all I can say is their tech people get an A++++++++ so if you get time take some measurements and have a good general knowledge of what you want to ask and these guys are amazing.......(must be bike lovers)

Just be careful you don't crossthread the caps......I need new tubes because of pitting and I am blown away at the cost of trying to get GOOD used tubes..... good luck.......oh wait, Honda moved back to Japan........good ruck.....

Dogsled wrote:Keith, I was having front end issues and had progressive springs which at the time may or may not have been a problem. I called progressive and talked to their tech guys....all I can say is their tech people get an A++++++++ so if you get time take some measurements and have a good general knowledge of what you want to ask and these guys are amazing.......(must be bike lovers)

Just be careful you don't crossthread the caps......I need new tubes because of pitting and I am blown away at the cost of trying to get GOOD used tubes..... good luck.......oh wait, Honda moved back to Japan........good ruck.....

I was thinking of Emailing them the inner spring is about 4" shorter than the outside one so doesn't come into use until the forks have compressed that much.

That's odd, because that's what the point behind progressive springs are - the more tightly wound part of the spring give you a plush ride, until you compress the suspension enough that the tightly wound part is fully compressed, at which point the more loosely wound portion is compressed. The more loosely wound part is much stiffer, and prevents the suspension from bottoming out.

Some non-progressive springs include a second spring inside the first. The outer spring is softer, when the suspension compresses enough to engage the stiffer, inner spring, that keeps the suspension from bottoming out.

So to me, having an inner spring when the outer spring is already a progressive spring, is somewhat redundant. Perhaps a previous owner weighed 500 lbs and needed beefed up suspension?

Yep doesn't make sense to me but there is so much wrong with this bike i'm not surprised, just took the head stock off and had to put a bar on the socket to undo the adjusting nut when I lowered the head out of the frame the bottom bearing fell apart.They must have crushed the bearing when installing it.

I was going to mention from your first post that your springs did not look like my progressives, but I did not say anything because I thought - maybe 1500 are different from 1800. My Harley progressives look like the ones you showed in your picture in your first post. They do have the progressive look, so, I dunno. I do wonder if they are the correct springs for your bike.